HWAMB — Chapter 26

5. Receiving and Giving Heart (2)

At some point, I began to grow more and more afraid. Rather than worrying about things becoming awkward if I turned him down, now I worried, “If we ever break up in the future, won’t that mean our bond will be cut off completely?”

I thought it would be far better to keep my feelings buried to the very end and remain quietly as nothing more than “friends,” rather than risk severing the bond altogether.

Looking back now, I think that was what scared me the most.

This is driving me crazy…

I lowered my head, wiped away the sweat running down to my chin, and barely managed to steady my ragged breathing.

First place went to the Blue Team, represented by Class 1, who reached the finish line first.

The teachers watching the match began checking the slips from first to third place. They had to deduct points if the contents didn’t match the given conditions, and they also needed to apply points according to ranking.

Everyone had to submit their slip regardless of ranking, so I reluctantly handed mine over.

Soon after, the paper was taken from my hand.

Until the very moment the teacher opened the slip, I was still clutching Hyun-woo’s hand tightly. My sweat-soaked palm was burning red.

“Well, well, this is…”

As expected, when the teacher read the slip, he looked at me and Hyun-woo with a troubled expression.

Hyun-woo, seeing me bowing my head and racking my brain, glanced between me and the slip with a confused face.

Then, excusing himself with a quick “Just a moment,” Hyun-woo took the slip from the teacher—only for his eyes to widen in shock.

Of course.

Because the slip said, “The person you thought of over 100 times today.”

Seo Young-ho, you bastard…

I had already cursed “Seo Young-ho, that bastard” countless times just today alone.

I swallowed a low groan.

Who would have thought Young-ho’s prank, which I assumed Sang-su would clean up, would come back to screw me like this.

Sure, Young-ho did put in quite a few slips. There was every chance Sang-su missed one or two by accident.

Just my luck.

Of all moments, of all situations—it almost felt like someone had deliberately rigged it.

The teacher stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“This is too abstract. There’s no way to verify it. Who on earth wrote such an impossible condition….”

He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

While Hyun-woo stood there dumbfounded, staring at the slip, I forced a smile and gave a playful answer.

“Right? I think one of the kids slipped in a prank. Still, I picked the person who fit the condition most closely, so please accept it. Maybe not a hundred times, but I did think about him seventy times…”

Honestly, I didn’t care whether they accepted the slip or not.

If I denied it here and got all serious, it would only ruin the mood—and worse, it would be like announcing to everyone that I had feelings for Hyun-woo.

I couldn’t let that happen.

The best way was to laugh it off and joke about it, so the adults would dismiss it as “just kids fooling around.”

A hundred times was pushing it. Seventy felt just right.

The teacher looked at me wide-eyed in surprise.

Something felt wrong about his reluctant expression.

For a moment, I wondered if the number was too low—maybe it would’ve been better if I’d said eighty-one.

But eventually, the teacher just said, “You two must be really close,” and with a knowing smile, patted my back.

The winners in first place were being cheered on. While I was catching my breath, Hyun-woo suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me away somewhere.

Exhausted from running, I followed him without resistance.

I tried to hide the crumpled slip behind my back, but realized Hyun-woo had already seen it, so I gave up.

“Hey, that hurts…”

Hearing that, Hyun-woo suddenly stopped. Slowly, he released my wrist.

Silence filled the air. After a long pause, Hyun-woo finally spoke first.

His voice was slightly trembling.

“Why did you take me?”

“…”

“If the others saw you pick me after drawing that slip, rumors would’ve spread everywhere…”

I didn’t answer.

Hyun-woo pressed again.

“You wouldn’t want people to misunderstand.”

“You’re right. But… if I had picked someone else, you would have misunderstood.”

“…”

“And that, I hated even more.”

My mouth felt painfully dry.

“…And besides, you know I can’t lie.”

The truth was, I really had thought about Hyun-woo all day. When we went to school in the morning, when I took pictures for him, even after seeing someone confess to him, and even now.

I thought of him so much I lost count.

Hearing that, Hyun-woo’s ears and neck flushed bright red, like they were on fire.

I couldn’t see his face since he’d turned away, but at least in this moment, I knew exactly what kind of expression he was making.

Slowly, Hyun-woo started walking again. I followed right behind.

The time had come.

Now that it had gone this far, I had to finally tell him the feelings I had been putting off.

I moved my hesitant lips with great effort.

Because saying this required more courage than I’d ever needed.

“…Actually, that was a lie.”

“…What was?”

“When I said it didn’t bother me.”

Hyun-woo’s steps slowed until he stopped completely. He turned to look at me.

His eyes gleamed, smooth and bright like polished stones.

“I think I like you too.”

“…”

“Not just as a friend, like you said.”

After all my hesitation, the confession slipped out so easily it felt almost anticlimactic. With a weak smile, I said to Hyun-woo,

“…To be honest, when I saw someone confessing to you earlier, I nearly lost my mind.”

I don’t even know anymore.

Don’t people say, “You never know until you talk it out”? So many misunderstandings and mistakes come from not talking.

It’s the reason why dramas and novels always have those “frustrating” moments people joke about.

I decided I’d just say what I felt as plainly as possible.

Even if I stumbled. Even if my thoughts tangled. It felt like the best way.

Because only unpolished words could truly deliver my heart.

“…But I’m still scared.”

“…Of what?”

“If we break up, things will get weird.”

“What would get weird?”

At his question, I gave a bitter smile.

“Going back to being friends would be ridiculous. And even being the way we are now wouldn’t be possible anymore… You know that. It might sound strange, but… I hate that thought.”

“Then we just won’t break up.”

His voice was firm, filled with conviction. The simplest answer, but the truest one.

Yet could it really be that easy? What if we started dating and he realized he didn’t actually like me that much?

You can’t just say, “Sorry, this feels too awkward. Let’s go back to being friends,” and expect things to magically reset.

You can pretend, but that’s all.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because we’ll just get married and grow old together until we die.”

“…”

His bold, confident answer left me speechless again.

It might have sounded like a joke, but his face was so serious it didn’t seem that way at all.

Hyun-woo carefully took my hand in his.

“…Even if we break up as lovers, if you want me to, I’ll never leave. Even if things get awkward, I’ll keep trying to stay by your side as a friend.”

“…”

“I like you, Eun-jae.”

God, what was I supposed to do with that. My chest swelled painfully, emotions threatening to spill over. Since when had being honest with my feelings become this hard?

It had taken me so long.

Biting down on my lip, I tried to hold back the rising tide of emotion.

“…I like you too.”

My voice trembled as I squeezed the hand Hyun-woo was holding.

Without a word, Hyun-woo pulled me into a tight embrace, stroking me gently.

We weren’t even dating yet, and already he was talking about marriage. Ridiculous. Way too far ahead.

We were dead serious, but if anyone else had seen us, they would’ve definitely said it was sickeningly cheesy.